3D Dot Game Heroes Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

The Dragon was a bit of a pain the first time you fought him and he'll be a bit of a pain now, but fortunately the same cheap tactics that served you so well in your previous encounter can win the day here in the Dark Tower. Hack away at the dragon while avoiding his fiery breath. Do so as long as you can without taking damage, and be ready to run around and put up your shield as the Dragon drops down from above and sends shockwaves across the arena. Once you take some damage, it's time to stop playing fair. Head back up toward the right back corner of the screen. The dragon should fly to the middle, then crash down on the ground and send out shockwaves. Bring up your shield and face left toward the dragon. As the beast is landing, you want to get close enough that the shockwaves will just miss you, or at worst deflect harmlessly from your shield. Then you can hit the dragon's front shoulders with your sword before retreating back toward the right with your shield still held high. The dragon will launch into the air again, then come crashing down and you can repeat the above process for however long it takes to finally drain the last of your opponent's life meter and send him to the great dragon playground in the sky.

Once you defeat the Dragon, you can head through to the next room and climb some stairs to reach the Sky Temple portion of the tower.

Sky Temple

You'll have two choices about the direction in which to proceed as you first appear in the Sky Temple portion of the tower. Go left through the first door to start, where a ledge leads left across the room in front of some wind-blowing machines. Stab the bat from a distance, then hold up your shield and pass through the series of wind machines and through the left door. In the next room, there are two of the vampire enemies (remember that they turn into bats when killed and you must then also kill the bats) and more wind machines. As before, kill the enemies and then cross in front of the wind machines as you head for the door at the top of the room. The next area is tricky. There's an arrow trap on the lower left side, facing right. Another one is on the upper right side facing left, and there are two on either side of the shuttered door at the top side of the room. Besides that, magi enemies roam this area. Cast Reflect and use it to bounce the spells back and kill the enemies. Then head up into the room while facing left with your shield raised to block the arrow. Don't go too high into the room. Instead, you should now head left with your shield pointing toward the top wall to block another arrow as you proceed to the left wall. Bomb its weak spot, then pass through the new opening to the left.

Kill the enemies in the new room, then stand on the weak floor tile and fall through to the floor below. Use Freeze magic to stop those enemies (which included the dangerous tentacled type) from rushing you. Kill them, then exit through the door that opens at the top side of the chamber. In the next room, you'll find some stairs past cyclops enemies and a wind machine. Descend the stairs to the lower floor, and from the base of those stairs you can either go left to shoot the targets and make a treasure chest appear that contains Bombs (be careful not to let the wind blow you into the barely-visible gap along the bottom of the screen if you do), or you can just head through the right opening. In the next room, you'll find a black knight and a vampire, made more difficult by the fact that wind gusts are blowing from the top of the room toward the bottom. You may want to use Freeze magic to spare yourself some grief, but you'll still have to watch out for the gusts as you make your way right and climb the staircase.

In the room where you appear now, kill a few relatively weak enemies. You'll notice two timed switches, as well as a black hole along the top side of the room. Hit the right switch, then run quickly around to the left one. You'll cause a door to open along the room's bottom side. Pass through it, then cast your Reflect spell. Use it to eliminate the magi enemies, but don't venture too low into the room unless you have your shield raised and pointing toward arrow traps on the left wall. Make your way down and around to the weak floor tile that you should have noticed when you first entered. Stand on it and fall through to the lower floor. When you land in the room below, cast Reflect again to kill the roaming magi enemies, then open the nearby chest for a Key. Now grapple across the gap and head through the top door.

(Above Left) Use Parallax magic here to reveal that only two of the timed switches matter, then quickly step on them and exit through the door on the bottom side of the room. (Above Right) Navigate along the top side of this room with your shield pointed toward the top wall to easily work through the wind machines.

You'll be back in a room that you visited previously. Avoid the enemies and head up the staircase to your right, then climb up the stairs on the room's upper left side, as well. This new room presents a puzzle of sorts. There is a knight patrolling, and another enemy. Kill them, then push the movable blocks at the top of the room so that they come to rest in front of the wind machines. That will free you up to face toward the wall on the left, where there are three switches. Hit them all with your Boomerang to open the door along the lower side of the room. Pass through it and into the next chamber, kill the enemies there while avoiding arrow traps on the left and right walls, then go down one more room. Note that you're now only two rooms left from where you started working on this floor, so there's not much backtracking necessary if you should happen to die in the near future. The vampires here are tough to kill as you enter from the top side of the room because you can't slash with your sword until you step into the room and then you have to worry about wind machines blowing from the left wall. Navigate that challenge and head down one more room.

This is another room with a timed puzzle. You can use Parallax magic here and it will reveal that only the top right and lower left switches matter. Quickly press those two switches to open a door leading down one room. Pass through, then use a candle to light up your surroundings and Reflect magic because magi enemies are here. Kill them all so that they don't damage you if you try to zip through the room. Then run quickly down along the walkway, noting that weak tiles will give way as you go (that's why you need to progress quickly). When you reach the bottom door, pass through it and into the next room to find an assortment of weak enemies. Kill them, then pass through to the room on the right. There, kill some cyclops enemies. Avoid the black hole near the center of the room and head through the bottom door. The next room contains some knights. Kill them to make life easier on yourself, then note the treasure chest at the room's center. There are two movable blocks on the right side of the ring that surrounds it. Push the lower one left and the top one up, then head in and open the treasure chest for a Key. Now backtrack to the head of the staircase that you used to access the Sky Temple portion of the Dark Tower. That's good news, since it basically means that if you die in the near future, you can resume play from this point.

When you arrive back at the entrance to this particular floor, it's now time to head through the opening that leads up one room. There, you may want to cast a Reflect spell as you deal with the enemies, since there are projectile-firing blocks at the center of the room. You can open the treasure chest in the room's upper left corner for 100G if you like, then head right one room. Here, weak enemies wander between blocks while wind gusts from the right side. Kill the enemies, then put up your shield and head toward the right, but don't go through the opening on that side of the room just yet. Instead, venture up one room. Cast Reflect there so that the projectiles and magi enemies don't hurt you as you make your way to and through the opening at the top side of the room. The next chamber has a wind machine along the left side and some wandering cyclops foes. Kill them and put up your shield as you head against the wind. Detour to the right to step on the red switch, then fight the drafts once more as you continue toward the top side of the room. Now pass through the door to the right, which you opened by stepping on the switch.

The next room contains some weak mummies. Slash them apart, then look at the obstacle course that faces you. Wind machines are on the top and bottom walls here. They alternate, so you'll have to face up, then down, then up, then down and so forth to work slowly through. Negotiate the top wall, holding up your shield in that direction. That way, the worst that you'll happen if you fail an attempt to pass through one column of wind is that you'll be blown against that wall (instead of into a pit). Pass carefully into the next room to the right and use Freeze magic to kill the enemies, then push movable blocks up along the lower edge of the ring of blocks to access the weak floor tile. Step on it and fall through it.

(Above Left) There are numerous dark rooms to work through, all filled with enemies that you'd really prefer to see coming! (Above Right) Avoid the black hole and magi as you make your way along this narrow path to the room that contains the Boss Key.